Veteran of the month honored in Norwalk

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, June 6, 2009

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Richard Olson, commander of Norwalk''s American Legion Post 12, fires the first of three cannon shots Sunday during a ceremony honoring John "Jack" Campbell Jr. for his service in the Army during the Korean War.

Richard Olson, commander of Norwalk''s American Legion Post 12, fires the first of three cannon shots Sunday during a ceremony honoring John "Jack" Campbell Jr. for his service in the Army during the Korean

Based on recollections of people who turned out for a memorial service Sunday in honor of John "Jack" Campbell Jr., it would have been difficult to find someone growing up in Norwalk in the 1930s and '40s who didn't know him.

In later years, others made his acquaintance at his business, Campbell Plumbing and Heating on Westport Avenue, or at the numerous social and political organizations he joined.

"When we lost Jack, we lost a full-spirited person who filled the room with fun and joy," his family wrote in a biography read on the front lawn of the Frank C. Godfrey American Legion Post 12 on County Street, where Campbell was honored as the post's veteran of the month.

Both Jack and his brother, Donald, who attended Sunday's ceremony, served in the Army in Europe during the Korean War. Also attending was Jack's widow, the former Vera Mola, who, along with him, grew up the city's northeast Cranbury district.

Donald and Jack and their sister, Dorothy, grew up on Scott Street, adjacent to the farm owned by Vera's father in the area where Mola Road is now.

Donald Campbell reminisced about Jack and he belonging to the Cranbury Panthers football team, and the one-room schoolhouse they attended in grades 1 to 3.

"Stewie Leonard was on the team," said Donald of the founder of Stew Leonard's Dairy Store.

Following Sunday's program, Jack and Vera's daughter Melodie said her father's initial flirtations with his future wife were less than cordial.

"He used to chase my mother with his horse," Melodie said. "He used to scare her all the time. She hated him."

But persistence paid off, Melodie explained, and Jack convinced Vera, known to friends and family as Nikki, to marry him in 1950.

"She was true blue all the way" in dedication to their marriage, said Melodie, who has a sister, Christina, and two brothers, John III and Kevin. "And I have to say proudly, they never fought in front of us."

Months after getting married, Jack enlisted in the National Guard, which led to entry into the Army. He spent a year in Germany with the 7th Corps.

Upon his return to Norwalk, he opened his plumbing business in 1953 and established a bath accessories shop next door for Nicki to run.

"She loved it," Melodie said.

Jack was commander of Post 12 between 2007 and 2008. He also was a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Republican Town Committee, the Rotary Club, the Laurel Club and the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce.

Jack and Nikki were approaching their 59th wedding anniversary when he died last September 8 at age 80. Campbell is buried in St. John Cemetery on Richards Avenue.

Nikki, who just turned 80, lives with Melodie and her family on Mola Road.

Now Playing:

The Frank C. Godfrey American Legion Post 12 honors a deceased member of the U.S. armed forces the first Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. with a flag-raising ceremony open to the public. The honoree does not have to have been a member of the American Legion.